With Facebook's massive initial public stock offering looming, Yahoo has filed a lawsuit accusing the social media powerhouse of patent infringement. Yahoo says Facebook, which is likely to be valued at around $100 billion, pilfered its innovations on a wide array of social-web staples, from personalized advertising to news feeds to messaging. Many critics have dismissed the claim as bogus, noting that Yahoo made a similar move against Google before its IPO. Is this just a "pathetic" last stand for a fading internet pioneer, or does Yahoo have a legitimate case?
Yahoo is making a fool of itself: Pathetic is putting it kindly — these patent claims are "a crock of shit," says venture capitalist Fred Wilson at AVC. Not one of the patents in question is based on a unique idea Yahoo developed on its own. "Pretty much everything" on the web today is based on innovations made "before the commercial web existed." So look out, Yahoo. "Other companies have bogus patents too," and now they now have good reason to sue you right back.
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